At each of our leased facilities, the landlord contracts and controls removal and recycling of waste. To successfully initiate a recycling program, we must take great care in how we separate that waste.

For example, after visiting the waste transfer station used by four of our office facilities in New York City, we were able to make improvements on how waste is handled and processed that ensures the highest recovery percentage for recycling by the waste transfer stations. By visiting the transfer stations and communicating our findings to the cleaning companies caring for our buildings, we were able to improve our recycling.

Much of the burden rests on each of our employees to properly segregate recyclables. In each of our buildings, we diligently collect and divide plastic, glass, paper, corrugate, and newspaper. Clear bags are now used to collect each of the different types of waste to be recycled. Using clear bags increases the likelihood that the waste facilities move recycled materials to the proper area, thus increasing the amount of materials that truly get recycled.

eWaste is accumulated and disposed of periodically. We segregate eWaste, including toner cartridges, old computers, and printers. Leased computers are properly returned to the vendor. Owned computers, monitors and printers are refurbished and donated to charity as much as possible. eWaste disposal is a multi-faceted issue, with many challenges, and we’re systematically examining these issues and challenges to continually improve how our eWaste is handled.

There are many employees committed to recycling across all of our facilities. As a result of their efforts, we project that 80 to 85 percent of our recyclable waste is properly processed.